Well, all's not well, "all along the watchtower"...isn't that from some
important song or other? There are sooo many urges toward
DeNyAll, everywhere I look: from personal contacts, recent
movies, media. "Be positive"; "Write down three good things
that happened today"; "Don't be so negative", ad infinitum,
ad libidinem, ad nauseam.
The Tower of Babble/Babel grows ever higher: notice the at least
somewhat worthwhile network tv shows replaced by more talk
and food dumbing downs-- especially the recent ABC-installed
"The Chew". --What a time waster! I'm betting (and hoping) that
the more productive among us mostly still stick to gathering
recipes and recipe books to improve our cooking skills. (I don't
have cable, it really isn't an improvement over the 50 channels
and sub stations I get free here in Chicagoland...yes, I've done
the research, "reviewed" cable for eight months, continue to
check the listings now and again.)
Social hypocrisy is one of the lesser glues that keeps our culture
from completely deconstructing, particularly when one recalls
49 states in the USA allow conceal and carry. It is literally death,
or at minimum, becoming ostracized, to say what one
REALLY thinks. It's only necessary to watch different news
broadcasts as I do (not just the main info vendors) to
understand what violence results when hard honesty is
spoken.
Back to DeNyAll: sports mania has overtaken the nation as
never before, Little League parents are scapgoating refs
at games with physical remonstrations (read attacks).
The Ivory Tower folks and little 'ol me have been
watching this accelerating phenomenon for decades.
(I wrote a play in 1963 at 18 which has made-up
sports as the opening scene....). Any
diversion/distraction at all, avoidance, as psychology
has it, to defer the very hard work it will take to
craft a better world.
This is my diatribe dilemma--where is the upward
trend that things are improving here at home and
all around Earth? There are moments of probity
and goodwill, but they are not the everyday
actions we all need.
Meanwhile, I'll go out in public, put on my game
face and try to spread some real good will...
Our common social hypocrisy is for the zombie-like
among us, the bewildered, the frightened, or those
who have given up, but not for me.
***************************************
P.S.: Read a book! Actually, even more than 20
every year; read science websites; subscribe to science
pubs; check news/views online from other nations.
Awareness DOES exact a price, but I've always
found it vital.
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Agreed that reading books are very enlightening, but not nearly as much fun as getting wasted at the local hot-spot. Ever try sticking pitted black olives on each fingertip?
ReplyDeleteYippee!
But seriously, Amber, I agree that it's a challenge to think optimistically --- at least for the short-term. On the other hand, I do believe that there's reason to be encouraged in regard to the more distant future as voter demographics change.
ReplyDeleteIt's just a matter of time; as the harrumphing old white dudes continue to exit the scene stage-right, we'll reach an electoral threshold --- even in TEXAS!